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Slade sighed gently as he quietly maneuvered the kitchen in one of his safehouses. He wasn’t used to spending time with anyone after he finished with work, he was rather used to alone time after he took off his mask. He wasn’t used to cooking for more than himself either.
Looking over at the couch, how could he have predicted this was how his safehouse would look?
On the couch lay all four of the Bat’s robins, sleeping soundly in a pile, worn out from a long day spent together. Jason was at the bottom of the pile, resting his head on one arm and hugging Tim with the other arm against the side of his chest. On his chest and stomach, Dick was laying with his back against Tim’s, holding Damian against his chest in the fetal position. Soft snores and heavy breaths echoed through the unlit living room by the kitchen.
Slade chuckled to himself, wondering how he ended up with a full house of kids again.
His relationship with Dick was long-standing and well known at this point. He had pursued making the boy his ward for years, but once the boy became a man, things changed between them. Every battle became a chance to flirt, every injury became a taunt. They both made it known in the past that they were interested in each other, they had even gotten intimate with each other a few times, but the past week had been brutal on Dick and it brought him to Slade’s door in tears.
After a massive fight with Bruce for directly causing the death of the Joker, Dick had fled right to Slade, someone who wouldn’t judge him for what he’d done. He offered him his body again, but Slade knew better than to take advantage of Dick when he was at his lowest. Dick wasn’t used to Slade’s kindness, but he stayed there with him regardless. Without the feeling of necessity to go on patrol anymore, Dick spent most of his first few days excommunicated from his family…which Slade knew had to be eating him up inside.
It was only a few days before his brothers slowly began trickling in, rebelling against their adoptive father for treating Dick like he had. First it was Tim, then Jason, then finally Damian. Each tracked their older brother down of their own accord and ended up on Slade’s doorstep, leading to a cramped apartment and a temporary home filled with laughter.
Slade now had a kid up and watching him at every hour. Tim was always awake at some odd hour on his laptop, somehow having coffee available to share with him. Jason was always up late and getting lectured by Dick whenever he came home injured. Damian was up during the daytime and was always watching Slade from some nook or cranny, rarely speaking to him other than the rare verbal acknowledgement. The three younger robins made the apartment their home easily, turning off their signals and not speaking with Bruce (though they were still speaking to Alfred).
Dick, however, was still not very stable emotionally. He slept at odd hours throughout the day with no set schedule. When he was left alone, he didn’t eat even if food was left out for him. He mentally spaced out a lot and had been going catatonic for short periods of time.
Jason had talked to Slade about it after a long day over a cigarette on the porch. “Self-flagellation is something Goldie would do. The Joker doesn’t deserve it, but Goldie’s been with Bruce the longest, and he’s not going to get over his ideals that quickly.” Jason looked him in the eye, “Luckily for him, he has you. Don’t fuck up, old man.”
Tonight, he was doing better, sleeping besides his brothers after finally going on patrol with them again for the first time in weeks. It was the happiest that anyone had seen him since before the incident. Still, the whole ‘Joker thing’ would need to be addressed if Dick had any hope of returning to his cheerful ways.
Slade waited for when Jason and Tim were out on patrol and Damian was on his way out to join them. Before Dick could start dressing to be ready on standby, Slade called Dick back to their shared bedroom.
The demon spawn was always suspicious of Slade and didn’t want Dick to go by himself, worried that Slade would do something. Of course, Dick quickly corrected him and promised he’d be right back and go with him. Then he joined Slade in their bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Slade started the talk with a kiss, surprising Dick. He broke away and spoke firmly, “Listen, I know how hard the past weeks have been on you. I want you to know one thing - what you did was the best thing for Gotham. The Joker is a menace and doesn’t deserve anyone’s sympathy or mercy. If your father would stop being a hardass, he would have realized what a hero you were for doing what he did, especially after what he was doing to your brothers.”
Dick’s eyes widened, asking, “H-How do you know…?”
Slade was open about it, saying, “Jason told me, he was worried about the way you were acting after the event. That the clown joking about Jason’s death and psychologically breaking Tim and Damian was the trigger for you to start punching. If I’m being honest, kid, I would have done the same had he done half of what happened to your brothers - you’re a good brother for what you did.”
Dick’s eyes watered again, Slade was clearly touching a sore spot, “N-No, when I became Robin, I promised not to kill. What I did was heinous, even if it was the Joker…”
Slade pointed out, “You’re hesitating because you know that isn’t true, pretty bird. You felt good about his death - it was Daddy Bat that made you doubt. I’m never going to tell you that what you did was bad, in fact, let me do the opposite - I’m proud of you.” Those words were some of the strongest that Dick could have heard - he always wanted to be told he was good, that what he did was enough, and Slade knew it was what he needed.
Dick wiped his eyes and smiled, “I love you for doing this…”
Slade smiled back, “I love you too. Come ‘ere.” Dick wrapped his hands around Slade’s shoulders and kissed him, this time lingering and holding him for dear life. Slade rested his hands on Dick’s waist; he could tell that Dick was feeling more like himself and less like he was going through the motions of being a hero.
Slade pulled away, whispering, “While I love your brothers too, the demon brat outside our door is getting ready to stab me - mind taking care of him?” Dick swiftly pulled away and opened the door, seeing Damian pulling his katana from the sheath. Dick rushed to talk him down while Slade laughed.
Yeah, he was more than happy being here with his lover and his brothers - the Bat was blind; if only he knew what he was missing out on, he’d rush to get his sons back. In the meanwhile, Slade was going to enjoy all of Dick and his brothers’ shenanigans for as long as they would stay.